Comments on: The Optimal Line Length Principle Applied to Web Design

By: Ray Gulick

Ray Gulick — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:29:56 +0000

Beau – Those kinds of studies are a big part of the problem in web design. Engineers need rules about the “best” size, and the “best” font, and the “best” line-height. The problem with rules is understanding when they apply to a given situation and when they don’t. Designers need an understanding of the principles involved in manipulating variables to achieve the desired effect (in this case, better readability). Once the principles are understood, they can be brought to bear in making judgements about things like font-size, line-height, and line length.

By: Beau

Beau — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:43:15 +0000

A recent study found that the most common line height on popular websites is about 131% (given a base font size of "small"--13px).

By: Valamas

Valamas — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:30:06 +0000

Firstly, you samples above use “Lorem Ipsum”. It is good as a filler for testing a website’s appearance, but not good as a reading test. I don’t understand Latin. Something like the “Quick brown fox ….” would be better or something completely random.

A comment about the ability for users to read longer line lengths on the web; I agree, however I do not know the last time I read a paper newspaper. I still remember getting lost in newspapers. I guess on the web, I use the mouse subconsciously to help keep track of the line I’m reading and I don’t tend to use my finger to keep a pointer of the line I’m reading because I’m trying to hold the newspaper.

I have wide screen monitors and have come across wide paragraphs of text. I do find there is a limit and have felt the lines are too long.

I am a programmer and have been using EM based sizing. In fact everything is EM in my style sheets. I will experiment with making a readable css class.

Finally, your actual article above is most comfortable for reading, perfect line height, wide and font size.

By: Ray Gulick

Ray Gulick — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:34:54 +0000

One of the problems, I think, is that people want a “rule” they can follow unthinkingly and unerringly (e.g., 75 characters per line). But it’s not that simple. Readability (and therefore efficiency and comprehension) are affected by all three of the text attributes I discussed in the article. I would like to see the data that indicates that, other factors (font-size and line-height) being equal, long line lengths onscreen are somehow more readable than offscreen.

By: cancel bubble

cancel bubble — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:18:23 +0000

There’s an interesting article over at http://www.viget.com/advance/the-line-length-misconception/, essentially:

It’s become a best practice on the web to keep line lengths below 75 characters, and this has been the source of dissent against movements for things like variable-width (fluid) layouts and the like. But research doesn’t support this claim, at least on the web. Instead, users are able to read significantly longer line lengths on the web, and it actually increases efficiency and comprehension.